'Future Of IAQ' Panel Featured At NADCA Meeting In Orlando

New AIA Guidelines Expected To Have Impact On IAQ

Mold Litigation Conference Mixes Science, Health For The Legal Crowd

'Future Of IAQ' Panel Featured At NADCA Meeting In Orlando By Susan Valenti

One of the highlights at February's annual meeting of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) was the panel discussion on the "Future of Indoor Air Quality." Moderated by association president, John Srofe, the panelists were: Holly Bailey, president of the Indoor Air Quality Association, Charlie Cochrane of Cochrane Ventilation Inc., Don Gibson, an attorney and mechanical engineer, Gray, Harris & Robinson, Hal Levin of the Building Ecology Research Group/Indoor Air 2002, Bert Locke Jr., director of Property Management/PM Realty Group and a BOMA representative, and Dr. Richard Shaughnessy of the University of Tulsa Indoor Air Program.

Panelists each had about five minutes each to present their views on the future of IAQ in the next five years. Bailey kicked things off with a presentation on where she thought IAQ was going in the U.S. Her speech included themes that public and professional awareness of indoor environment conditions are becoming stronger, but that the U.S. population is aging, which brings with it health problems such as inactivity and more time spent indoors. She said a younger population is also joining the workforce and starting their career.

"Here's two populations going from one box to another," Bailey told attendees. "Going from their house, to their car, to the office, to the gym, back to their house."

She added that there will "always be a need for IAQ professionals. ...People don't worry about IAQ until they have a problem. The awareness of these problems is only going to grow."

Cochrane presented attendees with the future of ventilation hygiene as it relates to IAQ. He said that more and more laws are being produced nationally and internationally on ventilation and cleaning, thus making the markets for this work very strong.

"The residential market depends on where you live," he said. " Customers are asking more questions, but there's no technical push here because everything is based on cost."

On the other hand, liability is going to drive the commercial market over the next five years, according to Cochrane.

"There will be a need for regular containment and more documentation," he added.

Legal Future

"If you don't like the building or you suspect something is wrong [when looking at a potential job], you should walk away from the job. It's not worth it."

That was the advice from attorney Don Gibson to attendees. He also recommended that contractors understand the importance of due diligence, risk management, legal and regulatory issues, contract issues and insurance, as well as have the proper licenses for doing work in your state.

"I can bet that many of you aren't properly licensed judging from the number of cases that cross my desk," Gibson said.

On another front, Hal Levin gave attendees a review of the continuing growth in interest and awareness of IAQ in Europe, North America, Japan, Latin America and other developing nations.

Levin called the increasing sophistication of the professional and scientific communities, especially around interdisciplinary work, microbial contamination, indoor air chemistry, a positive trend in the industry but also spoke about training of professionals.

"We're seeing a lot more retention of professionals who are trained in this specialized area," he said. "This is good news, but it's also bad because it drives up the cost on projects."

He also cited other positive trends, including the increasing commercialization of IAQ services and products, and integration of these into "normal" building-related activities, and the growing trend toward so-called green" or sustainable building practices, products, and services which gives a boost to IAQ awareness and importance.

Property Perspective

Bert Locke Jr. stated that IAQ continues to be a top issue for the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International. The organization believes in source control, not more outdoor air, in terms of solutions.

As a property manager, Locke told attendees that the federal government should stay out of the IAQ business.

"No federal standard is needed for IAQ," he said. " This issue can be handled through a consensus document. Federal support should be focused on more research and consensus guidelines."

To speak about the IAQ research arena, NADCA had Dr. Richard Shaughnessy present top research priorities that will "probably" be addressed and those priorities that "need" to be addressed in the next five years.

"Currently, there is a lot of research going on for mold [testing, control, remediation], productivity studies, and asthma," he said. Areas that demand research right now include, improved exposure studies, integrated cleaning management, indoor air chemistry and particle research.

Among the problems facing the IAQ research community is a lack of funding, which causes the U.S. to lack behind other countries in terms of IAQ research, Shaughnessy said.

According to Luke A. Petosa of the Center for Healthcare Environmental Management in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., the new American Institute of Architects (AIA) Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities is expected is to published this month and contains a number of significant changes that could affect indoor air health and how healthcare and public health professionals investigate potential problems. Petosa's remarks were made at the NSF International Conference on Indoor Air Health held in January in Miami Beach, Fla.

The Guidelines set minimum program, space and equipment needs for all clinical and support areas of hospitals, nursing homes, freestanding psychiatric facilities, outpatient and rehabilitation facilities, and long-term care facilities, as well as minimum engineering design criteria for plumbing, medical gas, electrical, heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.

Petosa said that although the 2001 Guidelines are not vastly different from the 1996-97 edition, there are a number of potential changes that will affect not only how healthcare facilities are designed, operated and maintained, but how IAQ professionals will evaluate and make recommendations to correct the healthcare indoor environment. In revising the Guidelines, there seems to be a commitment by AIA that indoor air health must begin in the design phase.

What The Guidelines Include

Among the areas of the Guidelines expected to include impact IAQ products and/or procedures are:

• Minimizing Infection Control Risks In Patient Care Areas. The 2001 Guidelines expands upon the 1996-97 version in terms of planning and design for infection control and patient protection from demolition, ventilation, and water management following planned or unplanned power outages, movement of debris, traffic flow, cleanup and certification. To manage these risks, and maximize patient and employee safety, the 2001 Guidelines instruct healthcare facilities to include an Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) during the programming phase of a construction project. A panel of professionals with expertise in infection control, risk management, facility design, construction, ventilation, safety, employee health and Epidemiology would conduct the ICRA.
  In addition, the Guidelines revisions will affect construction, operation and monitoring of airborne infection isolation and protective environment rooms. In each case, the room would have a permanently installed visual mechanism that constantly monitors the pressure status of the room when the room is occupied by a person with an infectious disease. The use of such a pressure-monitoring device will clearly improve IAQ and infection control risks, according to Petosa, by greatly decreasing the otherwise hit-or-miss style of monitoring negative or positive pressured rooms.
• Energy Conservation and IAQ: The Guidelines instructs healthcare facilities not to use heat wheels unless the device maintains an airflow from clean to less clean areas under all circumstances if special ventilation rooms are to be included in the heating/cooling recover device. The use of heat wheels on the exhaust systems that service airborne infection isolation rooms is also not recommended. Petosa said that because heat wheels function by air-to-air transfer, they can transfer airborne contaminants just as efficiently as they transfer energy.
• Thermal Comfort: Newly constructed or renovated operating rooms and delivery rooms will be designed to have an independent thermostatic control, although Petosa pointed out that this has the potential to increase airborne infection control risks if the systems are not designed, operated and maintained properly. He said that careful thermostatic control must be maintained to prevent overcooling the moisture laden air, creating a microscopic veil of moisture on colder indoor surfaces, which is likely to amplify microbial growth. He suggests that effective temperature and humidity controls, in conjunction with adequate ventilation, must be achieved in these spaces to prevent moisture buildup in the rooms or in the associated ductwork and volumetric air-handling units.
• Nonmandatory Appendix: In a nonmandatory appendix, AIA recommends that operating rooms and delivery room ventilation systems should operate all the time to maintain the air movement relationship to adjacent areas; suggests the use of solid temporary enclosures and a separate ventilation/exhaust system for the construction area; and advises healthcare facilities to consider eliminating or monitoring decorative self-contained potable water features- such as fountains or water falls- which are difficult to disinfect and may harbor Legionella or other waterborne pathogens.

For a copy of the Guidelines when they are published, you can call AIA at (800) AIA-3837.

Mold Litigation Conference Mixes Science, Health For The Legal Crowd By Joshua Hull

Lawyers, insurance representatives and industry professionals converged on Philadelphia last month for Mealey Publications' first 2001 Mold Litigation Conference. The two-day conference featured expert panel discussions, current legal and insurance issues presentations, as well as products and services demonstrations. The jam-packed sessions spoke to the importance of mold work as an emerging field of expertise for enterprising lawyers.

The event was a success in spite of the fact that Erin Brockovich's highly anticipated appearance fell apart because of "scheduling conflicts," according to a Mealey's representative. The newly famous environmental crusader has taken on mold as a personal cause celebre and was expected to speak on mold and indoor health issues she has had to personally deal with recently. It would have been an improvement to an already strong conference program.

The program kicked off with impromptu opening remarks (this was Brockovich's original time slot) and an "Explanation of Mold" presentation given by Dr. Eugene C. Cole of DynCorp Health Research Services who did made the scientific information related to mold contamination more accessible to the assembled legal-eagle crowd.

"Regardless of what side you are on [plaintiff or defense], what you want is good technical information," said Dr. James Craner of Reno, Nev., at the outset of his case study of building-related illness (BRI) during "The Medicine and Science of Mold" presentation that followed Cole.

"The vast majority of building related health complaints are not attributable to the things that are commonly looked for," such as carbon monoxide, off gassing of formaldehyde, hypersensitivity pneumanitis or Legionnaire's disease. according to Craner, who also pointed to misdiagnoses of asthma in those making BRI complaints and the lack of information on the long-term health effects of mold exposure as examples of this dearth of good technical information.

Next up was "Evaluating Your Mold Case," featuring the contributions from lawyers Edward Cross of the Law Offices of Edward Cross, John Sweeney of Miles & Stockbridge, and Michael Duffy of Clausen Miller. The session featured advice on the identification of proper parties, preservation of evidence, proper indoor air quality investigations procedure, the analysis of coincidental symptoms with multiple plaintiffs, and parameters of insurance coverage.

The highlight of this presentation was a Southern-preacher style reading of Leviticus 14:38 by Cross, which he has performed at other conferences across the country. This biblical passage deals with Moses' instructions from God on the removal of mold contaminated building materials from the home. It was an effective and humorous way to demonstrate that although this may be a trendy topic for lawyers, it does have a some historical significance.

John Lausevic of Pacific Gold Coast Construction was very pleased with his decision to make the trip from California.

He told IE Connections that "the excellent educational component of the conference and the prospect of picking up some business" were the reasons he decided to attend.

The afternoon session included a "Demonstration of Mold Sampling" and a panel discussion of "Insurance Coverage Issues." A mock containment was presented to demonstrate personal protection gear, sampling equipment and testing procedures. An air sample was taken and "read" by a mycologist who issued a forensic report on the spot.

The lively discussion of insurance coverage issues dealt with such topics as "pollution exclusion," "efficient proximate cause" and "specified peril." The audience was reminded that an insurers failure to timely communicate a position might result in claims of waiver, estoppel, or bad faith.

The final day featured legal topics related to expert admissibility issues, emerging themes of mold litigation, as well as the impact of government agencies and regulation (or lack thereof). The "Trial of a Mold Case" capped off a successful, informative and well produced event.